Authentication

Gain consumers' confidence by authenticating your company with SSL

As we've discussed, there are two different components of an SSL/TLS Certificate. There's Encryption, which is essentially the same across all certificates and ensures that communication between web browsers and web servers remains protected. And then there's Authentication, which differs between certificates and offers assurance about the identity of the certificate's owner. There are three categories of SSL certificates:

Organization Validation

Extended Validation

Authentication is the best way to make sure that your customers feel secure on your site...

Basic Domain Validation

With DV SSL Certificates, you know for sure that your connection is secure and no third party can intercept or manipulate your communication with the web server. But, what you don't know for sure is who exactly is on the other end of your connection. It could be anyone. All that's required to obtain a DV SSL Certificate is proof of ownership over the domain in question. That's why when you click the green padlock in the address bar – a universal indicator of SSL – all that gets displayed is domain registry information.

Something to Remember...

Anyone with a malicious site, whether they're using it for phishing or some other kind of malfeasance, can slap a DV certificate on their site in the hopes of luring visitors into a false sense of security.

But web users are becoming more savvy—they're starting to get wise to these kinds of scams. And that, in turn, makes authentication even more important. An intelligent consumer might see a DV certificate, and the lack of authentication that comes with it, as a reason not to trust you.

Business Authentication Certificates

The good news is that there are two additional categories of SSL certificate: Organization Validation (OV) and Extended Validation (EV). These two – which are often referred to as Business Authentication-level certificates – offer a greater degree of authentication and can inspire a greater level of trust from your customers.

Is Authentication really worth it?

This is an era where cybercrime is growing both in terms of prevalence and sophistication. As a result, consumers have grown skeptical and are only willing to do business with websites they feel they can trust—the recent trends in online consumer shopping habits reflect that.

Think about how much money you could be losing because you're not doing enough to make your customers feel safe on your website. Authentication is the best way to make sure that your customers feel secure while browsing your site. Sure, Encryption is a crucial component of any security solution, but your customers need to know that they can trust you. That you are who you say you are.

Think about a site like PayPal. Every day more and more fake websites come online trying to imitate PayPal—trying to dupe consumers out of some of their hard-earned cash. That’s why the real PayPal goes to such great lengths to assure its customers that they’re at the right place—doing business with the real PayPal.

That's why a site like PayPal uses an EV SSL Certificate–to inspire the greatest degree of trust.

Granted, your business might not be as big as PayPal, but your customers' concerns are still the same. When your customers see that you've taken steps to authenticate yourself their confidence in you and your website – and any business they may do with you – grows exponentially. This leads to more conversions and protects your brand integrity.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: trust is the cornerstone of e-commerce. So it’s worth investing in security solutions that protect and engender that trust.

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